All about the prison

April 05, 2008 02:39 pm

— Editor:
I am sitting at my computer trying to put this article in an unbiased, unemotional, and bordering on the truth piece of information. It is, however, one of the hardest things to do since I am biased, I am emotional and I am sure that the entire truth is not being told.
This is concerning the article that was printed in your paper on OSP and the officers that work, supposedly, voluntarily for 16 hour shifts.
My loved one has two children and a husband at home and just last week she worked three 16-hour shifts and two eight-hour shifts for a total of a 64-hour week. Now she wasn’t asked if she would stay. They put it this way: ”If you don’t stay we can put a letter in your jacket,” which if you are trying to advance in the prison system doesn’t go well with promotions. They also wait until 30 minutes before your shift ends to inform you of this. This occurs because at this time they have had briefing and have the total of officers they will have for that day. Now she has to call home, make arrangements for her children to get to school or picked up from school, change or cancel any appointments she had that day and at the same time, after working a normal shift, she has to guard inmates that other prisons can’t handle. Then when she gets off work she drives home half awake, tired, and stressed from yet another 16-hour shift.
My grandchildren are trying to understand why their mother cannot leave her work place and attend parent/teacher conferences, dance class recitals, or championship basketball games to guard inmates because there isn’t enough manpower to make sure these people stay behind the walls.
Now I don’t know all the in and outs of financing a prison system but if I took care of my finances in this manner I can assure you I would be in a mess. These officers guard inmates without weapons of any kind. Now, if you haven’t been pulled over by a highway patrolman lately, I can tell you that they approach your vehicle with one hand on their gun. Now our officers are told that we know who the bad guys are and they are correct. There are over 500 of them who know she is tired, overworked, and underpaid. These officers deserve more money, better working conditions, and the same benefits that highway patrolmen receive.
Nurses work 12-hour shifts, receive shift differential pay, and benefits that you can retire on. Are the officers that read this oath every day they go to work, “Our mission is to protect the public, the employee, and the offender” worth any less? As I said at the start I, am not unbiased, unemotional, and I know the public is not being told the truth about the conditions at OSP.
Janet Anderson
Indianola